Chiefs Headliners: 11•03•24

Laddie Morse

With another injury, this time it’s TE Jared Wiley, it looks like the Kansas City Chiefs are snake bit. The odd aspect of Wiley being out, is that Saturday, November 2nd, is/was… his birthday.

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There’s been quite an overhaul of the Chiefs WR Room in 2024. At first we had:

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Marquise was injured on the first play, of the first game, in his first ever down with the Chiefs. Rashee Rice was injured with a freak accident when he tried to tackle a defensive back who had just intercepted Patrick Mahomes and it was Mahomes who injured him. Skyy Moore was once thought to be a roster limit casualty of the Chiefs signed DeAndre Hopkins, but Moore actually had surgery on his core muscle:

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Aside from those injuries the Chiefs WR Room may be in as good a shape as it’s ever been, largely because of the DeAndre Hopkins signing. Here’s what the total Chiefs WR Room looks like now:

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It’s also worth mentioning that both Joy Fortson and Jared Wiley are out for the season. That has led to other moves for the team:

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These were two pass catching TEs who were supposed to be getting more snaps and catches with the most recent news of injuries to WRs. Other WRs who could come into play include, Montrell Washington, Cornell Powell, Justin Ross and Nikko Remigio.

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If you have followed the Kansas City Chiefs for more than the past 7 seasons, then you’re aware that Kareem Hunt was ejected from the team for being caught in a lie about his domestic troubles. For years afterwards, Kingdom fans were not only trying to figure out what exactly happened that led to his expulsion or… were bent on having the Chiefs bring him back. That is… until the 4.37 Isiah Pacheco came into the league two years ago — as a 7th round wonder boy — and made everyone forget about the first round pick named Clyde Edwards-Helaire, in 2020.

Pacheco fractured his fibula in Week Two against the Bengals and has been on IR ever since. That led K.C. to re-signing Hunt and now, with Hunt back in the fold, the question lingers, how long until Pop returns?

Hunt has averaged 77 yards rushing per game and has added 40 yards receiving. He has spent time on the teams injured list. From Fridays report, ChiefsWire.com says this:

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“Listed with a hip injury last week, star running back

Kareem Hunt made the list again this week due to

his quad, which limited his participation in today’s

practice.”

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In an article called, “The Chiefs are still deciding what to do at CB” by Rocky Magaña, he quotes Chiefs DB Coach, Dave Merritt, as saying,

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“I told Josh to stay ready, your time is going to come.

And sure enough, it definitely came in a way that we

[didn’t expect] it to come, but Josh is one of those young

men who works better when you give him more reps in

practice.”

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When the trade happened this week for DE Josh Uche I was as excited as I have ever been about a player coming to the Chiefs. Why? Because this guy is legitimately fast, twitchy and able to bend (a necessary factor in being a great DE) plus, he may be the next coming of Derrick Thomas. Thomas, if you’ll remember, had Neil Smith rushing on the other side for most of his career and I believe that’s, in part, what made him great. Uche (pronounced: oo-shay, like the last name of Bobby Boucher from the movie “The Waterboy” with Adam Sandler).

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I know, I know, the comparison to DT is over the top. However, let’s wait and see how he does. Then we’ll know for sure how good my comparison is. DT is two inches taller and has a 15 pound advantage, but I see Uche as being every bit as athletic and Bill Belichick, the man who drafted Uche, says he is very strong for his size. Here’s Belichick on Josh Uche:

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“They didn’t give up anything in my mind. Look

Josh Uche is a really good rusher. He hasn’t had

a chance to rush much this year for the Patriots

because they’ve been behind a lot. He has a big

year two years ago. Now, he had Judon on the other

side of him. But he’ll have a lot of opportunities to

rushing in Kansas City. I think that he’ll really help

them.”

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(3:16)

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While the Chiefs still have holes in their roster at CB and Left Tackle, I don’t expect them to get any more work done filling those positions through the trade deadline, this Tuesday afternoon. Although I didn’t expect them to make a move for Uche, a DE, that was a knock out move for sure. If other teams can’t pass the ball because a freight train is coming through, they are left with zero alternatives. Why, because K.C. has effectively shut down other teams rushing attacks this year. Take a look:

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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